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Marvin Redpost #2

Why Pick on Me?

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A small incident during recess threatens to turn nine-year-old Marvin into the outcast of his third-grade class. Marvin is shunned by his classmates, best friends, and teacher after he is unfairly fingered as a nose-picker by the class bully.

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1993

81 people are currently reading
406 people want to read

About the author

Louis Sachar

96 books4,714 followers
Louis Sachar (pronounced Sacker), born March 20, 1954, is an American author of children's books.

Louis was born in East Meadow, New York, in 1954. When he was nine, he moved to Tustin, California. He went to college at the University of California at Berkeley and graduated in 1976, as an economics major. The next year, he wrote his first book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School .

He was working at a sweater warehouse during the day and wrote at night. Almost a year later, he was fired from the job. He decided to go to law school. He attended Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

His first book was published while he was in law school. He graduated in 1980. For the next eight years he worked part-time as a lawyer and continued to try to write children's books. Then his books started selling well enough so that he was able to quit practicing law. His wife's name is Carla. When he first met her, she was a counselor at an elementary school. She was the inspiration behind the counselor in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom . He was married in 1985. Hisdaughter, Sherre, was born in 1987.

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5 stars
319 (35%)
4 stars
261 (29%)
3 stars
239 (26%)
2 stars
55 (6%)
1 star
23 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
Profile Image for Carol.
67 reviews1 follower
December 24, 2007
If you enjoy the Marvin Redpost series, you will like this one too.

Bullying is one of the most popular themes in coming-of-age literature at all times. Marvin was said to be a nose-picker in class. In other words, he was somewhat verbally abused. He felt discontented about the fact that his classmates called him names. There's rumours around. The harder he tried to deny it, the least his friends believed him. In the end, he figured out a way to silence the school bullies.

The book doesn't hold any deep discussion on bullying, but is a light-hearted read. If one likes the Marvin Redpost series, he may like this one too. I give the book three stars out of five.
Profile Image for Dolly.
Author 1 book671 followers
July 12, 2016
This is the second book in the Marvin Redpost series. It is a terribly accurate story about how children can gang up and pick on a child.

The story is a bit silly, but it shows how much schoolyard rumors and stories can affect children. The protagonist of the tale, Marvin Redpost, gets bullied and the story shows how the bullying affects all aspects of his life.

It's a good story to use as a discussion starter at home and in school about bullying and countering bullying behavior.

We enjoyed reading this story together and will see if we can borrow more of the books in this series from our local library.
Profile Image for Regan.
195 reviews18 followers
May 1, 2023
Nolan didn’t fall asleep until the last page, which was fortunate because I was not about to go to bed without seeing how this heartbreaking portrait of elementary school bullying resolved. Sometimes booger-picking rumors just get you, man.
Profile Image for Mairéad.
870 reviews11 followers
May 6, 2022
This excellently executed, highly relatable story about being picked on / excluded by your classmates is sure to appeal to readers aged 8+ With its gross humour, short chapters and accessible language this is also a great series of books for older children who find reading challenging. I see lots of potential here for indepth discussion with a 3rd-6th class group about how rumours can negatively impact on a person's life, how not standing up to bullies makes you part of the problem and lots more! I particularly liked the illustrative details at the beginning of each chapter which reflected Marvin's mood as the story progressed and look forward to discussing that with my pupils when I read this with them!
Author 10 books22 followers
December 3, 2024
Kõvasti sümpaatsem kui esimene osa. Hea näidismaterjal, kuidas toimib koolkiusamise mehhanism ja samas on pakutud ka täitsa mõistlik lahendus.
138 reviews
January 31, 2016
So far, I have read six books in the Marvin Redpost series, and this book is the best of them. I recommended it to my sister, and she was deeply touched by this. VERY DELICATE plot, even though this book is just a CHAPTER BOOK for Kids!
The brilliant and popular boy Marvin Redpost got in big trouble. That was being picked by every students in class.
At first, it was started by Clarence, the toughest kid in school. He said Marvin picked his nose. Some kids around them laughed at first. Marvin tried to tell them that it is misunderstanding. But, the more he talked about it, the more children laughed at him and picked on him. Marvin even cried, but it was no help. He went home and his family members and he talked about it. And his younger sister Linzy gave him an answer, "Why is it bad?" Marvin got a clue. At that time in school all students have to ask each student a question and gather all the answers and report it in front of the board. So Marvin asked them "Have you ever picked on your nose?" At first, some kids were shocked at him, but he gathered all the survey results, even from the principal. Finally he reported it. Except Clarence, who started to lie Marvin picked his nose, everyone said yes. And Casey, whose ponytail stucked out of the side of her head, said to Clarence "You are a LIAR!" Marvin beat him! Yay! I felt like I hit Clarence. Marvin solved his problem.
Profile Image for Philip.
1,075 reviews319 followers
November 10, 2016
Gwen: (After checking the bookshelf boxes here on goodreads): Is that it?

Dad: Yep. Hey, how about we ask survey questions to start off this review?

Eleanor: Okay.

Dad: So, if you're reading this review, and have time, please answer these survey questions... Alright, guys, what are your questions?

Eleanor: What's your favorite color?

Gwen: ....Ummmm... Let me think. Poppy can go while I'm thinking.

Poppy: I can do it. Well... Ummmm... I just? He... What I like...

El: Ask about something you like...

Poppy: I AM. What I like about the review was-

El: No. You have to ask a question, like, "What do you like to do?"

Poppy: What do you like to do?

Dad: Gwen? Did you think of a question?

Gwen: What's your favorite subject?

Dad: Why did we do a survey?

Gwen: Because they were doing survey questions in Marvin's class.

Dad: At one point, Marvin's friends didn't stand up for him. What did you think about that?

El: I thought that was mean.

Poppy: Me too.

Gwen: I thought they should have standed up to them, but that was their choice.

Poppy: Me too. I didn't like that they did that.

Dad: You ready to start another Marvin Redpost book?

All: YEAH!!!!

Poppy: I'm turning into a unicorn!
151 reviews3 followers
August 12, 2018
At face value, this UKS1/LKS2 short story is a fairly simple tale about how to respond effectively to a bully at school, yet on further reflection it also provides a much deeper and more powerful social commentary on human behaviour in any community. When Clarence ridicules Marvin to hide the fact Marvin beat him in a playground game, all their classmates gradually echo Clarence's untruthful sneers until even Marvin's two closest friends shun his company and his teacher believes the rumours Clarence has spread. The pressure to conform and desire not to be associated with ridicule affect all walks of life and are doubtless something that most children will have already experienced by the time they encounter this book. In this current age of social media and personal insecurity amongst teenagers, Louis Sachar's message for primary children is a timely and judicious one: if others devalue or disrespect you, it's important to recognise that's not a reflection of your own failings, but of the cowardice and insecurity of peer pressure in our society. In Marvin's case, Sachar redeems him by holding up a mirror to the other pupils and teachers in an almost Gospel-like manner: before you laugh at someone else, are you also guilty of what you're laughing at? An excellent and extremely accessible story for PSHE and Citizenship themes in schools, using this book in the classroom would surely help encourage a positive, supportive, courageous and honest school environment in which children could be themselves with confidence and genuine acceptance.
25 reviews1 follower
February 16, 2017
This book is called "Marvin Redpost," and it is by Louis Sachar. This book was very good because of its style of writing, and because Louis Sachar is one of the best authors ever to write a book. This book was all about a little boy who finally "defeated" the big man on campus in wall ball. Clarence who is the biggest man on campus spread rumors about Marvin and no one ever hung out with marvin ever again.
I really enjoyed this book because it kind of reminds me of kids in our school who start rumors, and it ends up backfiring in their face. This book also kept me on the edge of my seat, and I wanted to read more and more about this book. You should really read this book.
I recommend this book to someone who likes interesting books, and who doesn't like interesting books. This book will make you want to read other books of Louis Sachar's. Louis Sachar did a really good job on the book, and frankly he does a good job on every book he writes. I hope you read this book, because you would really enjoy it.
Profile Image for Saori Fukuhata.
7 reviews
January 31, 2018
This is the book of Marvin Redpost series, which I have read for the first time.

This is a unique story. The 9-year-old boy, Marvin Redpost, was talking about picking nose from the beginning to the end all the way. Because Marvin had argued with a boy and the boy said that Marvin picked nose.

The more he denied, the more everyone picked on him. He felt the end of the world because of picking nose, even though he didn’t. Sort of this thing happen in the society as well. I was able to understand the situation easily and got interested how he could deal with it.

In the end, he resolved the tough situation by getting a tip from his family. It was funny. Absolutely, way to go Marvin ;)

I wanted to see how he would get along with 2 close friends, not best friends, but it didn’t be described. So, I give it 3 stars out of 5 stars.
Profile Image for Nicole.
1,271 reviews11 followers
January 18, 2020
For such a short book, Sachar manages to get in a lot of emotion in there. You feel so much for Marvin as he suffers through relentless bullying. It describes depression and how it effects people in what could have been a silly story. Like damn. He also shows how someone being on your side can help so much (yay Marvin's parents!). It's a lot deeper than I would have thought.

(I haven't finished the series yet, but boy do I hope Marvin dumps those friends. They suck and he deserves better, and I approve of characters saying that bluntly).
621 reviews7 followers
September 9, 2019
Luisa: Marvin was playing wall ball and Clarence tried to cheat and say he won. Marvin didn't let him. Clarence was mad at Marvin and said he picksed his nose. Marvin got him back by making a survey question for the whole class "have you ever picked your nose?' Everyone said yes except for Clarence and that made him look bad to the rest of the class. They knew he was lying.
I really like it because it shows what happens when you lie!
Profile Image for Sri.
897 reviews38 followers
October 5, 2017
Bully bisa berawal dari kebohongan sederhana. Asalnya bisa dari sekedar olok-olokan belaka namun lama-lama bahkan korbannya jadi percaya bahwa dia memang seperti yang diolok-olokkan padanya -_-. Syukurlah, Marvin bisa melepaskan diri dari hal itu berkat pertanyaan adiknya yang masih polos. Apa salahnya ngupil? Semua orang kemungkinan besar pernah ngupil wkwk.
Profile Image for Myra Benedict.
180 reviews
May 8, 2018
Marvin life was going good when a rumors is going around that Marvin Redpost is the biggest nose -picker in the school .a mean boy Clarence started it and every is acting as it true even his best friends. nobody wants to sit with him and eat with him but surely Martin will find a way? A funny gross book but with a good lesson.
Profile Image for IluvApplePie.
8 reviews
April 10, 2024
I first read this series on my phone, now switched them on my kindle, which had better reading experiences. Really funny and witty, I like Marvin's younger sister Linzy The best, she was just so funny and cute, although Marvin was The hero in this book, But I think his sister was the queen of funniness. On my way to the thrid copy, is she a girl? Can't help finishing it as soons as I could.
Profile Image for Michelle.
225 reviews31 followers
May 4, 2018
I'm a longtime of the Wayside books, and was excited when my son brought this book home from school as I'd not read it. It did not disappoint!

I ended up using it as a lesson - people often think untrue things, and so you always want to find the truth! Both I and my second-grader loved this book!
Profile Image for Ginny Daniels.
428 reviews7 followers
July 9, 2018
Hadn’t read this book series before, but I know we have some in our library collection, and I enjoy Louis Sachar’s other stories. They would be great for 1st and 2nd graders looking for a realistic fiction series!
Profile Image for Josh.
1,002 reviews19 followers
October 10, 2020
One of the highlights of the series, capturing the senseless cruelty of grade school but also the tenderness of family. Some of the scenes where Marvin is bullied and mistreated are just crushing, but the resolution is satisfying. And like all the entries in the series, it’s laugh out loud funny.
86 reviews
May 6, 2017
This is book is about a boy his name is Marvin Redpost. some how people start thinking he is the biggest nose picker in the school. Even Marvin best friends don't want talk to him. Very fun story.
Profile Image for Naomi.
848 reviews8 followers
April 8, 2018
Yuck. But...true. What can I say? Or maybe, let's just not talk about it, eh? Funny book. Gross too. Reminds you of...being in third grade.
Profile Image for Lies.
16 reviews
April 30, 2018
Marvin is unfairly "fingered" as a nose picker. Is shunned by kids and gets to point where grades drop. Very discussable + funny. Chapters are short - just right for beginning chapter readers.
Profile Image for Wade.
750 reviews26 followers
June 24, 2020
The first book was really good, but this one was exceptional. My 7 year old son and I cracked up the entire time I was reading it to him.
Profile Image for Yel Baldemor.
198 reviews8 followers
February 21, 2021
Another book for my Korean student. This is nice book with good values building LOL
Profile Image for Sakura.
31 reviews
February 5, 2023
I usually like Marvin's story but I'm not satisfied with the ending this time. Everyone around his were too mean to him.
344 reviews
April 17, 2024
Lugu narrimisest ning kas või millal selleks on alust. Pahupidikooli-raamatute sarnast nalja ei saanud ja lugu kippus olema pigem selline õpetlik. Paraku.
Profile Image for Stevenlomax1984.
35 reviews2 followers
April 19, 2024
A very quick read suitable for 6-8 year olds. Not as good as Holes or There’s a Boy in the Girls Bathroom
9 reviews
September 27, 2024
Its a good book for 3-6 graders to read on how to stand up for themselves especially if they are being bullied at school
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews

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